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Tampa Bay Rays 9/11/17 starting lineup and electricity free pregame notes

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The Dude, back where he started. (Photo Credit: Tampa Bay Rays)

Rays 8/11/17 Starting Lineup

Kiermaier CF
Plouffe 3B
Longoria DH
Duda 1B
Puello LF
Ramos C
Hechavarria SS
Espinosa 2B
Bourjos RF
Odorizzi RHP

Noteworthiness

— Hour 20 without electricity. Thanks a lot Irma and Duke Energy.

— Chris Archer, on negating the likely pro-Yankees crowd at Citi Field: 

Hopefully we get a lot of Lucas Duda fans.

— …And Evan Longoria on the same subject:

I don’t know if there is a neutral site when you’re playing the Yankees.

— You can read about tonight’s pitching matchup, and so much more, in our series preview. 

Key personnel in Tampa Bay Rays’ rebound

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Opening Day 2017 at Tropicana Field. (Photo Credit: Will Vragovic/Tampa Bay Times)

The Tampa Bay Rays did not have a good season in 2016. In fact, the Rays have not made the American League playoffs since 2013. They did make it to the AL Division series that year, losing to the eventual World Series champions the Boston Red Sox.

Since that time it has been some lean years for the Rays with three consecutive losing seasons, culminating in 2016’s record of 68 wins and 94 losses, their worst record since 2007.

This year the Rays have rebounded from last years debacle and are playing decent baseball again. Their record of 59 wins and 61 losses as of August 14th is a big improvement over last year’s 47 and 69 on the same date. They are currently only 2.5 games behind qualifying for a wild card playoff berth and have a legitimate shot at making it to the playoffs for the first time in 4 years. They bolstered their roster at the trading deadline, making some moves that they hoped may help in the stretch drive to the end of the season.

While it is too soon to tell if these moves will pay off, the fact that the team is in a position to trade for players in an attempt to win this year is a testament to the team they fielded at the start of the season. Third baseman Evan Longoria and starting pitcher Chris Archer are having serviceable years but several Rays that were on the opening day roster have improved their performance over last year. In some cases they are having the best season of their Major League careers. Let’s take a look at some players that have been instrumental in the Rays’ return to competitiveness.

Corey Dickerson – Left Fielder

Corey Dickerson was obtained by the Rays in trade with the Colorado Rockies prior to the 2016 season. He was coming off an injury plagued 2015 season in which he only appeared in 65 games. He had a decent year in his first with the Rays, hitting .245 with 24 home runs and 70 RBI. Determined to improve on that performance and fulfill his high self-expectations, Dickerson changed his diet and cut his weight down to 200 pounds for the first time since being drafted in 2010. He believe this gives him a better jump on chasing fly balls and allows him to stretch more singles into doubles on the base paths.

The formula seems to have worked for the left fielder and designated hitter. He has played well as the Rays’ leadoff hitter and earned the fan’s votes to become the starting AL designated hitter in the 2017 All-Star Game. He is on his way to a career best season in the power department already accumulating 22 homers and 27 doubles. His previous high for home runs was 24 in 2014 and 2016 and he should easily surpass those numbers if he remains healthy. Dickerson is also on pace to shatter his previous record for hits in a season which stood at 136. He currently has 131 hits and has raised his batting average from .245 last year to .285 in 2017. Corey is definitely one of the reasons that Tampa is in the playoff hunt this year.

Logan Morrison – First Base

Morrison was also obtained by the Rays in the 2015 off-season. It was hoped he would be the starting first baseman but Logan was hampered by arm and wrist injuries in 2016 limiting his productivity. Fully recovered from those ailments, Morrison is on pace to have his best hitting year since becoming a Major Leaguer. His 28 home runs blows by his previous best of 23 in 2011 when he was with Florida. That was also his most effective RBI season with 71 and he already has 67 this year with over 40 games left to play. Logan’s slugging percentage currently stands at .512, more than 50 points higher than in any previous season.

Morrison has also played a part in the Rays’ resurgence by his base running prowess. Though the first baseman will never be thought of as a stolen base threat, the Rays are one of the best teams in baseball when it comes to taking an extra base on a hit. He leads the team in the statistic called ultimate base running. This stat calculates the value of taking an extra base versus getting thrown out in the attempt. Morrison has the best numbers here, getting good reads on fielders and hustling for the extra base. These kinds of plays can be instrumental in a team’s success and Morrison is leading by example.

Steven Souza Jr. – Right Field

Steven Souza Jr. has been on the Rays since 2015. He is the starting right fielder and pre-season expectations were that he would have an average year. His offensive production has exploded this season. Souza Jr. has already accumulated 25 home runs, 18 doubles, 62 walks and 71 RBI. With about a quarter of the season left to play, numbers all exceed Steven’s previous best totals. His batting average of 259, OBP of .365 and slugging percentage over .500 are all career bests.

Remaining on his current pace, Souza Jr. projects to hit 34 home runs and drive in 96 this year. Considering the fact that his previous highs in the categories were 17 homers and 49 RBI you have to put him up near the top of the list when reflecting on the Rays’ improved team performance this season.

Tommy Hunter – Relief Pitcher

Journeyman reliever Tommy Hunter signed a minor league contract with the Rays before the start of the 2017 season. His work in spring training earned him a spot on the big league roster for the start of the season. Despite missing a month with a calf injury early in the season he has been a bright spot in the Rays’ bullpen. He is not the closer and has only one save this year but has contributed 14 holds keeping his team in the lead and setting it up for closer Alex Colome.

Hunter has accomplished this with some startling numbers compared with his previous season in MLB. His strikeout per 9 innings is at all time high of 9.66, almost a full strikeout per 9 better than his 2015 campaign. Tommy is sporting the fourth best ERA among American League relievers at 1.76 which is a tremendous improvement on his career numbers which stand at 4.12. The 9 years veteran of the Major Leagues may well have found a home in Tampa.

It All Adds Up

Combining the great years being put up by these 4 players, the steady work of Longoria and their starting pitching has given Rays fans hope for both this year and the future. Pre-season projections had the Rays finishing out of the playoffs for another year. They have shown once again that projections are often not worth the paper they are printed on as they make a late season drive to secure a wild card spot and play well into October.

Author Bio: I’m  David, the editor/co-founder of The Planet Of Baseball. Being a software engineer by day and a baseball blogger by night, I also participated in the training activities of a youth baseball team at my hometown. I have a huge passion for baseball, it pertains to my life from childhood until now. So, I’m here to share with you all things about this passion. Hope you find this helpful.

The New What Next: Rays Vs. Athletics — a series preview

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Logan Morrison celebrates with Tim Beckham after tying the score with a two-run homer during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday. (Photo Credit: Getty Images)

The Tampa Bay Rays will begin a three-game series against the Oakland Athletics when they square off at O.co Coliseum on Monday night. The Rays had won four straight games before losing the series finale in Los Angeles on Sunday, while the Athletics are coming off a three-game sweep of Cleveland.

(Stats: ESPN)

The Rays could have extended their winning streak to five games, however, pitching mistakes here and there, two missed tags at the plate, and the fact that they left the bases loaded to end the game on Sunday found them on the losing side of the ledger. Still, they are holding down one of the two AL Wildcard spots, and still find themselves with sole possession of second place in the AL East by 1/2 game over the Yankees. Logan Morrison has homered in two straight games, while Evan Longoria has hit safely in nine consecutive contests — going 13-33 with seven RBI over that stretch.

The Athletics haven’t played like a last-place team of late, as they’ve won seven of their last nine games overall after they swept the AL Central-leading team from Cleveland. Oakland plated 17 runs over the span of the three-game series, which extended the team’s home winning streak to five games. However, the Athletics have won four or more consecutive games just three times this season, so the odds are against them in that respect.

Tampa Bay is 9-2-1 in its last 12 series against the AL West, while Oakland is 4-1 over its last five home games, and 13-6 in the Athletics’ last 19 games against teams with winning records.

(Stats: FanGraphs)

Over the next three days, Kevin Cash will lean on Jake Odorizzi (5-4, 4.63 ERA, 5.68 FIP), Blake Snell (0-5, 4.85 ERA, 5.12 FIP), and Jacob Faria (4-0, 2.00 ERA, 3.48 FIP). Bob Melvin will counter with Daniel Gossett (1-4, 6.23 ERA, 5.75 FIP), Chris Smith (0-0, 4.50 ERA, 4.48 FIP), Sonny Gray (5-4, 3.72 ERA, 3.46 FIP).

(Credit: FanGraphs)

Pitching Matchups

Odorizzi continues to struggle, as he surrendered seven earned runs over 4-1/3 innings in his last start before the All-Star Break.  The right-hander has allowed at least three runs in seven consecutive starts, with a 6.69 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 31/16 K/BB and 2.8 HR/9 in 35 innings over that stretch. Over the break, Odorizzi worked on the mechanical issues that have plagued him over the first half of the season, and the hope is that he will show in the second half of this season, similar to what he did in 2016.

Gossett had a tough outing to close out the first half of the season, taking his fourth loss in 4-1/3 inning, three run five hit outing. In three of his four losses, he’s received just one run of support or less. The Rays have never faced the 24 year-old right-hander that has relied primarily on a 92 mph four-seam fastball with average velocity and little arm-side run, and an 84 mph worm-burner of a slider. He’s also mixed in a 79 mph 12-6 curveball, an 82 mph cut action changeup, and a whiffy 91 mph sinker bereft of arm-side run.

Snell kept the Cubs off the board for five innings — despite walking four batters — giving him his first scoreless outing of the season. The bullpen could not secure a win for Snell, as the relievers gave up seven unanswered runs with Snell out of the game. While his outing was a step forward, the walks that Snell issued are concerning, and have raised his BB/9 up to an unsightly 5.9 on the season. Suffice it to say, if Snell can’t get it together over his next two starts, the Rays might be forced to rely upon the services of Brent Honeywell instead.

Smith will make his second big league start in Jharel Cotton’s place in the rotation. The 36 year-old allowed three runs on six hits over six innings in his first start on July 8, in Seattle. This season Smith has relied upon an 87 mph pitch-to-contact four-seam fastball, a whiffy 78 mph 12-6 curveball, and a 76 mph Changeup.

Faria posted his seventh consecutive quality start on Friday, holding the Angels to one run on five hits over 6-2/3 innings for a no-decision. The right-hander was tough even without his best stuff. The cool as a cucumber rookie stranded runners in scoring position in the second, third and fourth innings — holding the Angels to 0-for-6 wRISP in those spots.

Gray tossed six shutout innings against Cleveland on Friday, giving up just two hits and walking one while fanning five and coaxing seven groundouts. The Rays were able to get to the 27 year-old right-hander the last time they faced him, tagging Gray for five runs (two earned) on nine hits over six innings … although he did strikeout 10. For whatever reason, Tampa Bay has fared well against Sonny over his career, as he is 2-2 with a 4.02 ERA against the Rays in eight starts. Key Matchups: Tim Beckham (4-5, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Corey Dickerson (2-8, HR, 3 RBI), Evan Longoria (8-23, 3 2B, HR, 3 RBI, BB), Trevor Plouffe (2-7, HR, 4 RBI, BB), Mallex Smith (1-3)

Noteworthiness

— As we noted last night, Jumbo Diaz was designated for assignment after the game, and Andrew Kittredge has been selected from Durham. He will join the team on Monday.

— I still can’t get over this blast and ensuing bat flip:

LBWMF: Rays fall to BoSox, 2-1; Jake Odorizzi placed on 10-day DL

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Rays reliever Erasmo Ramirez takes a breather after giving up a homer to Mitch Moreland on his first pitch. Ramirez settles down and allows nothing else through four innings. (Photo Credit: Associated Press)

The Tampa Bay Rays lost Jake Odorizzi to the injury bug on Saturday — more specifically to left hamstring tightness — as the team fell to the Boston Red Sox, 2-1. Tampa Bay has split the first two games of a four-game set with Boston.

On the first pitch of the second inning, Odorizzi threw a breaking pitch to first baseman Mitch Moreland, then instantly grimaced on the follow through — also grabbing at the top of his left thigh area. Ron Porterfield and Rays skipper Kevin Cash quickly made their way to the mound and watched Odorizzi throw a pair of practice pitches. The look on Odorizzi’s face spoke volumes: he was in no shape to continue.

The broadcast team, DeWayne and BA, pointed out that Odorizzi grabbed the same spot where he was hit by a Jose Bautista line drive six days prior, in his last start against Toronto. He stayed in to pitch three more innings that day, and did all his normal between-starts work without worry — Jake reportedly felt fine. Yet he acknowledged the correlation between this injury and the line drive following the game:

It wasn’t an issue from when it happened until that pitch.

Following the ball-game, the Rays placed Odorizzi on the 10-day DL with what is hoped to be a minor injury; recalling Chase Whitely in the process. Whitley is expected to pitch in relief.

In light of the departure, Erasmo Ramirez took the mound in relief…and was greeted rather rudely by Moreland, who hit a first-pitch solo shot to right, on a center cut four-seam fastball for a Boston lead. That, however, was the only run they would score off Ramirez.

Erasmo spent the rest of his outing working at the bottom of the zone with his fastball, while keeping Boston’s hitters off balance with his slider that drew three whiffs on six swings. Ramirez gave Tampa Bay four solid innings on 46 pitches, allowing three hits while striking out two.

Meanwhile, Tampa Bay answered in the third inning against Chris Sale. Kevin Kiermaier took a walk then moved to second on a one-out single to left by Steven Souza Jr. Evan Longoria plated the Rays’ only run with a two-out single to center, ending his 1-for-22 career stretch against the left-hander. Tampa Bay eventually loaded the bases with two outs, but Sale limited damage by striking out Derek Norris to end the threat. That started a 4-1/3 inning stretch where Sale allowed just a walk while striking out eight.

After Ramirez, Tommy Hunter worked a perfect sixth inning, only to get into trouble in the seventh.

Hunter allowed singles to the righty-killer that is Mitch Moreland, as well as Xander Bogaerts to open the frame. Pablo Sandoval grounded into a 3–6 fielder’s choice, allowing Moreland to move up to third. After walking Chris Young to load the bases, Xavier Cedeno entered the game to have switch-hitting Sandy Leon hit right-handed. The irony being that Leon is by far a better right-handed hitter, with the catcher slashing .318 BA/.395 OBP/.485 SLG/.880 OPS at home against lefties from the right side.

Cedeno, who has been rather suspect of late, jammed Leon with an inside cutter and coaxed a broken-bat grounder to Daniel Robertson at second. Robertson elected to get the sure out at first, while Moreland crossed the plate for the go-ahead run. After an intentional walk of Dustin Pedroia, Cedeno got Andrew Benintendi to ground into the shift, limiting damage to a single run.

That was frustrating simply because you felt like you get the right guy in there, you make the right move, you make the right pitch, everything goes your way, but we don’t quite get the ball hit hard enough to turn a double play, Cash said in his post-game presser. No fault to anybody — X was outstanding, and Robby got the only out he could get.

Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) made mention of the game changing play:

Robertson explained why he didn’t throw to second — his positioning, where he caught the ball, the potential to hit the runner with the throw — then saying “in hindsight, maybe I should have tried to give it a shot.” Boston manager John Farrell also said he thought they would try for two.

The Rays mounted one last rally against set-up man Matt Barnes, who walked Souza and the pinch hitting Corey Dickerson with just one out. Longoria stepped to the plate with intent to put his team ahead, yet the face of the franchise grounded hard into a 5–4–3 double play, ending the inning.

Craig Kimbrel closed out the game with a sharp 1-2-3 ninth.

The New What Next

The Rays play game three of four against Boston on Sunday. Alex Cobb (1-1, 3.46 ERA, 4.72 FIP) will toe the rubber opposite lefty Drew Pomeranz (0-1, 1.50 ERA, 1.45 FIP).

Cobb has been good over his first two starts of the season. His ERA is in good order (even though his FIP isn’t), and he has limited walks, although he hasn’t rung up a ton of batters and and he has allowed homers at a high rate.

Pomeranz’ first start was encouraging, spinning six innings of one-run ball against the Orioles. The left-hander admitted to being a bit sore after the outing, although he doesn’t think it’s anything to be concerned about (as it relates to his previous forearm issues). He has been a two pitch pitcher thus far, relying upon a whiffy four seam fastball, and a hard curveball with sharp downward bite. Key matchups: Tim Beckham (1-2, BB), Brad Miller (6-13, 2B, HR, 3 RBI), Steven Souza Jr. (1-5, BB)

You can read about today’s pitching matchup, and so much more, in our series preview.

Rays 4/16/17 Starting Lineup

Souza Jr RF
Kiermaier CF
Longoria DH
Miller 2B
Weeks 1B
Dickerson LF
Robertson 3B
Sucre C
Beckham SS
Cobb RHP

Noteworthiness

— Jim Turvey (DRaysBay) implores you to keep a a close eye on the Rays bullpen while Odorizzi is shelved.

Alex Cobb evolving as a pitcher; MLB unveils holiday uniforms

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Alex Cobb is evolving as a pitcher. (Photo Credit: Butch Dill/USA Today Sports)

In an interesting article titled Alex Cobb adjusting to life without his changeup, Marc Topkin (Tampa Bay Times) wrote about the evolution of the Cobb’s pitch repertoire.

Topkin noted that Cobb made a fundamental change in his repertoire:

…throwing his curveball more frequently and in more pressing situations. On Monday he threw it 43 times, and his changeup only 10, in 102 pitches.

The reason for the change? Due to the fact that a changeup is a feel pitch, it takes longer to regain the muscle memory needed to throw it with consistency. And because he can’t rely upon his split-changeup at the moment to get swings and misses, Cobb has become fond of his curveball.

Get in those situations where I need that swing and miss, and that’s my best offspeed pitch right now. You kind of learn to go with whatever the hot hand is that day. My whole career I’ve been changeup dominant and going to that when needing swing and misses and strikeouts.

So I just have to relearn how to pitch a little bit using the curveball. It’s a great pitch. But I can’t wait for all three of them to be here.

Alex Cobb pitch usage from 2007 to 2016. (Credit: Brooks Baseball)

Alex Cobb pitch usage in 2017. (Credit: Brooks Baseball)

The question begs, are the results thus far at least complimentary to that of Cobb in his prime?

Cobb went 21-12 with a 2.82 ERA/3.29 FIP in the 2014 and 2015 seasons, combining for a 7.9 WAR. Yet he returned from Tommy John surgery last season (in September) and went 1-2 with an 8.59 ERA/5.60 FIP, with a -0.8 WAR.

Jim Turvey (DRaysBay) found that in two-strike counts, a time when he once went to the splitter reliably, Cobb has thrown the splitter just 22 percent of the time in his two 2017 starts. Instead, it has been the sinker and the curveball each getting over 30 percent usage.

So far the results have been good. Cobb has slashed 3.46 ERA/4.74 FIP/3.42 xFIP over 13 innings of work while allowing five earned runs, and posted an 11/2 strike to ball rate. He’s also induced whiffs on his breaking stuff 18.75% of the time.

In short, Cobb has been effective thus far. However, the right-hander knows something that we may not — when he said, “I can’t wait for all three of them to be here,” he knows that in order for him to be effective over the long-term, he must get back to being a three-pitch hurler before the league catches up to him.

Stats and figures: FanGraphs and Brooks Baseball (unless otherwise noted)

Rays holiday uniforms

MLB has unveiled its new line of Special Event uniforms for the 2017 season, including those to be worn by the Rays (seen above).

Some are pretty great looking (Father’s Day uniforms and All-Star Game hats), while others are pretty overwhelming (I’m looking at you Memorial Day and Home Run Derby uniforms).

A detailed look at the uniforms, hats and socks can be found below, thanks to SportsLogos.net.